Syria WatchDue to the dire nature of the situation in Syria, Impunity Watch has elected to dedicate an entire page to following the story as it develops. The information below is culled from a variety of sources and will be updated periodically. Any commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of Impunity Watch. *WARNING SOME VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Syrian Revolution Digest – Wednesday 14 November 2012

Time for Efficiency!

Syrian Revolution Digest – November 14, 2012

The National Coalition needs to learn from the mistakes of its predecessor, the Syrian National Council. It needs to learn that getting recognition, both domestic and international, is hinged on its ability to be efficient in its management of relations with rebel groups, in-country activists and refugees. Its leaders should arrange visits to refugee camps soon, as well as meetings with top defectors, rebels and activists. They should also realize that a government of technocrats should put skill and experience over political ideology and communal background.

Today’s Death Toll: 100

The Breakdown: Toll includes 5 children and 3 women: 37 in Damascus and Suburbs, 16 in Aleppo, 14 in Deir Ezzor, 12 in Idlib, 7 in Daraa, 5 in Homs, 4 in Hama, 3 in Hassakeh, 1 in Lattakia, and 1 in Quneitra (LCC).

When Syria’s revolt began as a peaceful protest movement, many participants said it was a moment when hidden views were shared honestly for the first time. They described it as a time that brought fellow Syrians together. But Assad’s crackdown has transformed their movement into a bloody armed revolt and the conflict, in which more than 32,000 people have died, is tearing the country apart, dividing friends and families and spinning a web of secrets between neighbors.

Of some 22,000 schools across Syria, more than 2,000 have been damaged or destroyed. Over 800 have been turned into makeshift shelters for refugee families, according to UNICEF. The 2012-13 school year kicked off with a troubled start, though officials said more than five million children joined classes this year. In rebel-held towns besieged and bombed for months, small, informal classes were set up in alleyways to avoid children having to walk very far, says Hussein, an opposition activist in Qusayr, in the central province of Homs. Compounding their difficulties, some displaced children are teased in Damascus by their peers because of their accents, says child psychologist Azza Nasser.

Prime Minister David Cameron will chair a meeting of the National Security Council on Thursday morning which will consider the military, humanitarian and diplomatic options for dealing with the conflict in Syria and the growing refugee crisis on its borders… The prime minister hopes to find a fresh approach which he can persuade US President Barack Obama to pursue with him so that they are not seen to stand aside as thousands die – to repeat what some inside government call “a Kosovo situation”.

The street warfare isn’t winning the rebels any more friends. The urbane Aleppans have never really warmed to the opposition fighers, most of whom come from religiously conservative Sunni Muslim small-towns–and there is growing concern that the rebels are turning more sectarian. The rebels know they’re not really welcome.

A growing chorus of voices, including Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US envoy to the UN, and former State Department policy planner Anne-Marie Slaughter, has called on the administration to provide not only nonlethal technical assistance, but to arm Syria’s pro-democratic opposition in order to counter extremists.

The new leader of Syria’s opposition has a history of statements that are anti-Semitic, outrageous, and sometimes downright bizarre. (My Comment: my rebuttal of the views expressed here can be read in my previous post).

President Obama’s recent remarks on Syria divulge a more proactive approach towards managing the ongoing conflict there than previously exhibited. Still, the President obviously maintains the same reluctance towards military intervention, even in the form of providing greater support to the opposition beyond nonlethal and humanitarian aid. Still, the statements mark a step in the right direction. The newly formed National Coalition can improve its chances of making this new policy even more open by proceeding with the formation of a technocratic leaning transitional government and an effective military council, as well as by providing a more inclusive vision for Syria’s future.

Meanwhile, and while the political processes continue to unfold, developments on the ground are still very much influx. Rebels looked set to liberate the north just a few days ago, but today, they have suffered several reversals, with the town of Khan Shaikhoon falling back to the regime and a major segment of the city of Idlib. The battle and the war are not over yet. Nothing can be taking for granted. The regime continues to receive regular shipment of weapons and supplies from Russia and Iran, but support to rebels’ continues to be spotty and irregular, which is not conducive to a situation where momentum can be maintained.

Q. Mr. President, the Assad regime is engaged in a brutal crackdown on its people. France has recognized the opposition coalition. What would it take for the United States to do the same? And is there any point at which the United States would consider arming the rebels?

THE PRESIDENT: I was one of the first leaders I think around the world to say Assad had to go, in response to the incredible brutality that his government displayed in the face of what were initially peaceful protests.

Obviously, the situation in Syria has deteriorated since then. We have been extensively engaged with the international community as well as regional powers to help the opposition. We have committed to hundreds of millions of dollars of humanitarian aid to help folks both inside of Syria and outside of Syria. We are constantly consulting with the opposition on how they can get organized so that they’re not splintered and divided in the face of the onslaught from the Assad regime.

We are in very close contact with countries like Turkey and Jordan that immediately border Syria and have an impact — and obviously Israel, which is having already grave concerns, as we do, about, for example, movements of chemical weapons that might occur in such a chaotic atmosphere and that could have an impact not just within Syria, but on the region as a whole.

I’m encouraged to see that the Syrian opposition created an umbrella group that may have more cohesion than they’ve had in the past. We’re going to be talking to them. My envoys are going to be traveling to various meetings that are going to be taking place with the international community and the opposition.

We consider them a legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Syrian people. We’re not yet prepared to recognize them as some sort of government in exile, but we do think that it is a broad-based representative group. One of the questions that we’re going to continue to press is making sure that that opposition is committed to a democratic Syria, an inclusive Syria, a moderate Syria.

We have seen extremist elements insinuate themselves into the opposition, and one of the things that we have to be on guard about — particularly when we start talking about arming opposition figures — is that we’re not indirectly putting arms in the hands of folks who would do Americans harm, or do Israelis harm, or otherwise engage in actions that are detrimental to our national security.

So we’re constantly probing and working on that issue. The more engaged we are, the more we’ll be in a position to make sure that we are encouraging the most moderate, thoughtful elements of the opposition that are committed to inclusion, observance of human rights, and working cooperatively with us over the long term.

On Wednesday, Obama gave no sign though that despite his re-election there would be any major shift yet in his Syria policy.

“The US has been virtually missing in action on Syria so far, but their recent moves, including the push for the formation of the coalition, indicates that they might be ready to adopt a more proactive attitude,” said pro-democracy Syrian activist, Ammar Abdulhamid, a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

“The heavy lifting, though, including arming rebels and perhaps pushing for a de facto no-fly zone, might still be left to other countries at this stage,” he told AFP.

US analysts said questions remained over the new coalition, highlighting for example that a Kurdish body had still not joined.

The opposition now needs to work on setting up a transitional government and some form of military council, they said.

“What the United States is looking for… is one military organization where all military aid can be channeled, that in turn can be relied upon to distribute the money among fighting groups inside the country, leaving out the jihadi groups,” said Marina Ottaway, senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“This is a very admirable plan. I’m not sure that it can work,” she told AFP, adding: “The idea that somehow by centralizing the distribution of money the jihadi groups will be cut off, I don’t think it’s realistic.”

Abdulhamid agreed that before the international community could start arming the rebels a “mechanism for vetting groups and delivery channels need to be agreed.”

President Obama and the U.S. continue to lag behind in trying to influence events in another important country, in spite of the major role played by American diplomats in helping to organize the Syrian National Coalition. That is a major problem, because there is only so much France—or other states such as Qatar and Turkey, which are eager to topple Bashar Assad—can do.

Only the U.S. can organize a coalition to impose a no-fly zone and thus hasten the end of the barbarous Assad regime. If we fail to act, the humanitarian and strategic costs of the war will continue to grow—as witness recent incidents of Syrian forces directing fire near to, and sometimes over, the borders with Israel and Turkey.

Writing in The Christian Science Monitor, Bilal Saab, executive director and head of research and public affairs of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), argues that

Obama’s policy of ‘staying the course’ in Syria should be weighed against worsening strategic realities in the country and region. Only a careful military program to help the rebels, including arming and training them, can stem the growing costs of US inaction.

For his part, Thomas Friedman advocates a policy of convincing Russia to “fall on the grenade” and “midwife a transition process in Syria. But that would be the equivalent of flipping Russia from herself, which is even more out there than the idea of flipping Syria from Iran by engaging Iran. Putin & Co. are more likely to midwife a process that will take us back to Assad’s bosom, than away from Assad’s rule. The truth is Syrians don’t need anyone to fall on his sword or grenade for them. Rebels simply need support, and midwifing a transition process can still happen from a safe distance, for now. Further delays will definitely change this calculus, and we could indeed face a “Kosovo Situation,” or worse, a regional meltdown brought about by an imploding/exploding Syria, as Friedman himself has argued.

Video Highlights

Rebels in Aleppo City showcase advanced missiles they claim to have recently confiscated from troops loyal to Assad, saying that they have been asking for these missiles for a long time, but no one in the international community was willing to provide with this type of weapons. Finally, Allah stepped in to fill the gaphttp://youtu.be/JRe4wfNE0Fs

Impunity Watch App Available

Impunity Watch is excited to offer its first mobile app! The app is available on the Android Market, and we are working to develop an app for the Apple Market, which we expect to have available soon.
To download the app for your smartphone from the Android Market, Just Click Here!
Or scan this Code: